Complicated
by xhesaidshesaidx
Summary: I wish it could all just stop, or at least slow down a bit. Prom is just a week away and however gay I may sound when I say this, I'm "totally freaking out". SEQUEL TO ONE HOUR. Troypay /two/shot still AU! Dedicated to DanceDORK!
1. Part Uno!

**Summary: **I wish it could all just stop, or at least slow down a bit. Prom is just a week away and however gay I may sound when I say this, I'm totally freaking out. Sequel to One Hour. Troypay /two/shot (still AU!)

**Note:** If you haven't read One Hour yet, you should probably go back and read that one first before reading this one. :)

**Dedication:** _My good FF friend Abbii, aka DanceDORK, happy belated birthday chica! I hope you had a wonderful sweet 16 b-day on the 15th, right? ;) iloveyou!_

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**Complicated: Part I**

**I **never would've thought that any place on earth could possibly be worst than any spa. I mean, that place is like every straight man's torture. It's funny how a women's desire is a man's worst nightmare...in a lot of cases. I remember having to go with my mom as a kid, whenever she was having one of those weird mid-life crisis ordeals and needed some "female R & R". She would never even stop to try and hire a babysitter for me, as she apparently didn't want to waste any of her "indulgence" time in finding me proper watch care (as my dad was East Highs basketball coach and still is to this very day and stayed for practice everyday until 4:30 and I got off school at 3:15), so she'd just whisk me away with her to that dreaded place instead, saying that this way it not only saved her money but also served as a time for us to spend some quality time together.

Now don't get me wrong here, I mean, I love my mom (and dad) and all but personally as a 7-10 year old kid I never really found "quality time" with the 'rents to be all that fascinating. I'd of much rather spent my time playing with my hot wheels...playing xbox, or shooting hoops outside with my buddy Chad. And I mean...I'd always thought "male bonding" with my father was bad but there's nothing worse than "mommy and me" time, especially if it's at the god forsaken spa.

Usually, I'd just find myself sitting off in the corner of the room on a hard wooden stool with splinters digging into my ass as I kept myself occupied with my Gameboy Advance or Playstation Portable while waiting for my mother to finished up her hair, nail, facial, and massage treatments. (They do chocolate facials there, chocolate! Chocolate is meant for eating, not to smear all over people's faces and make them look all brown and ugly. And I've never quite understood the whole guacamole facials or the whole cucumber on the eye thing either. I'd always watch helplessly as those stuck up bitchy spa workers transformed my mother's face into some kind of alien exhibit at a science museum. what's the point of that anyway? After my mom was finally finished with her treatments, I remember hearing the spa worker ladies tell her "this is the new you!" and "I wish I had your beautiful glow!" but I never saw anything different about her. She walked out of that stupid place looking the exact way she'd walked in to me. So what's the point of facials?)

And not that I wanted too anyway, but this wasn't exactly what most people would describe as bonding. It wasn't until I turned eleven, the big "double one", that I was allowed to stay home alone whenever mom decided she needed a pampering.

Anyway, now that I'm 18, I think it's pretty safe to say that I'll never ever have to go back to that frightening place they call girl heaven ever again unless it's to pick my future wife up or drop her off or something. But spas have nothing to due with malls, which is pretty much tied for first place on my Dreading to Be There list.

Usually I don't mind malls, it's actually not half bad going when I'm there with all my friends, but let's just say that if you're walking hand-in-hand into one with _just_ Evans exactly one week before Senior Prom Night, well...you may as well be signing your own death sentence.

"What do you think of this color?" she asked me, seeming interested in my opinion but I knew better as she held up a bottle of black nail polish for me to see. We were standing in front of the nail polish rack at the nail salon inside our local Albuquerquean mall.

"It's black." I stated boredly, pointing out the obvious. "What am I supposed to think of it?"

She rolled her eyes and placed it back on the rack, picking out a white bottle instead. "Well should I go with a darker or lighter shade?"

I sighed. "I don't know. What color is your dress again?"

"Pale pink. I've already told you that a million times, Troy." Sharpay huffed, sounding aggravated. "I mean shouldn't you already know that? You _did_ get the matching tie I told you to, right?"

I wish it could all just stop, or at least slow down a bit. Prom is just a week away and however gay I may sound when I say this, I'm totally freaking out. First there's dealing with Sharpay when she's all stressed and freaked out like this. Second, there's the whole prospect of me possibly asking her to be my formal girlfriend the day of the prom. I really want to ask her, I'm just not sure how to do or say it. I haven't exactly had a girlfriend in a few years so I kind of forgot how it's done.

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. No, I hadn't gotten the tie. Not yet, I'd actually just barely ordered the tux yesterday, but I couldn't tell her that. She was Sharpay Evans, Ms. Everything-Needs-to-be-Done-Right-Now. But just as I was about to open my mouth to lie my heart out, she'd already seemed to figure out the truth.

"You didn't get it yet!?" She practically screamed at me. Damn. Could that girl read people or what? Or is it just me, being too obvious? "And why not Troy?! Do you just enjoy stressing me out?!"

I grabbed her hand comfortingly on cue as several employees and customers in the salon turned to shoot us strange looks at the tone of her voice.

"Shar, please, inside voices." I told her soothingly. But she just pulled her hand away from mine, telling me that she hated it when I treated her like an elementary schooler. And just as I was about to apologize, one of the worker's wearing her little surgical mask approached us.

"You going to pick color?" she asked my date in a thick Viet-Namese type accent, and I could tell by the look Sharpay gave her, she was about ready to scream at the lady something about "being in a moment" or "can't you see I'm busy?", so before she could, I answered for her.

"Sorry, we're kind of in the middle of something, is it ok if we come back in ten minutes?"

"Yes, slow business day." The worker said reasonably with a shrug before trotting away over to one of her employees who was leaned over a work station filing away on an older woman's nails.

"Why did you turn away the woman responsible for making my nails look good for next weekend!?" Sharpay demanded once she was gone, but instead of answering her question (er..demand), I grabbed a hold of her elbow and let her out of the salon, telling her that we needed to straighten some things out before we did anything else, knowing that if I hadn't said something to the worker, Sharpay's response wouldn't of been a very nice one anyway.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

"Look, I'm sorry about the tie. Things have gotten pretty hectic lately with final exams and all that crap coming up soon." I tried explaining to Sharpay, "but I'm going to get it today. I promise."

She stood angrily with her arms crossed before me. We were standing outside in the parking lot, next to my truck- the vehicle we'd came in, so no one would be around to hear if she had another obvious PMS moment.

"Well I have exams too you know, I have to cram in study time too, but I was able to work around it!"

"I know, I know." I said, "I'm sorry." What else could I say? She did kind of have a point there. But still, no need to blow a fuse over a damn tie.

"Whatever." She rolled her beautiful but now angry eyes and started walking away, back towards the mall entrance.

"Come on, you're not just gonna walk away now are you?" I called after her.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she snapped, not turning around. I took that as my cue to run after her, where I grabbed her arm again, forcing her to stop walking and turn back towards me. She sighed, still keeping her arms crossed, but only stared at me without a word.

"I'm not going back in there until you stop being pissed at me or whatever it is you are right now." I told her. She glared at me for a second before replying.

"Don't come in then," she said, attempting to turn back around, but I stopped her again.

"You're not going either."

"And who made you my boss?" she asked me sarcastically. "I don't need your permission."

"I don't care, either you get happy again or I take you home right now. Take your pick."

I think she could tell that I was serious then. Maybe it was the stern tone of my voice, or the dead serious look I was attempting to give her as I looked her straight in the eye. Either way her glare softened and something seemed to spark inside her, because then she gave in with a "fine, I'll be "happy" again."

"Good choice." I said, glad that she chose not to stay mad at me. It seems like ever since that day on the pedal boat around a month ago, we've kind of been having these little arguments here and there. Maybe it's because we're so used to fighting all the time that it's a hard habit to break, but whatever the reason, I don't like fighting with her anymore. I really don't, because I want this to be smooth sailing or remotely close to that from now on with me and her. I know things won't be perfect, but couldn't we at least try to get along better now? I mean...I really do like her, and she knows that, so why would I want to fight anymore?

Sharpay didn't say anything then, she just turned around again and started to walk off towards the building without me, and even though she said she'd be happy again, something told me she was going to continue giving me the cold shoulder anyway unless I did something.

"Sharpay..." I warned, and she whirled around.

"What?" she spat.

"Can I have a hug?" I smiled, ignoring her tone and holding my arms wide open for her, and the look on her face at that moment showed no more signs of anger or annoyance or anything that had been there seconds before. I could actually tell she was hiding a smile as she sighed, finally uncrossed her arms, and stepped into my open and waiting ones.

She felt warm and small and scented of sweet berries as I held her against me, like she always does. This is always the part where we make up for sure- when I give her my charming grin that I'm well aware drives her crazy, and we hug away all the bad feelings. Yeah, I'll admit, I can be kind of corny sometimes. I gave her sun kissed strawberry fragrant-ed hair a short kiss before we pulled away, and I didn't have to reach for her hand this time before she walked off again, because she smiled at me and slid hers into mine, and I knew that now we could go back in the mall feeling good and refreshed and she would be able to go through her nail polish options without having to shriek at me again while I went to go order that tie.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

I know lately it seems like I've been freaking out on Troy for the smallest things, but I can't really help it. He just pisses me off sometimes without really meaning to, especially when I'm as stressed as I've been lately. He's not mean to me anymore, at least not as much as he used to be, but still...for some reason I've been having this low tolerance thing with him. And when he forgets to do things that might not be that important to him, like not ordering his tie, well...they actually mean something to me, and I sometimes can't believe how dimwitted he can be. I know he was just making up excuses with the whole "exams" thing. Hell, just last week when my parents asked me why I haven't been doing my chores around the house ever since our housekeeper Lucia had to quit a couple of months ago due to "personal issues" and my dad hasn't been able to get around to hiring a new one, I used the I've-been-studying-for-exams thing as an excuse when the real reason was because I was either:

a. Spending extra time on prom details- making sure my dress was perfect, along with my shoes, hair and nail appointments, limo for my friends and I, etc, etc.

or

b. Spending countless hours hanging out with or talking on the phone with Troy, discussing everything from rounds of "would you rather?" to what we ate for dinner to what homework we had to do to what we want to be when we're older to our favorite movies and so forth. It's amazing, really- I've known him since like, second grade when he first moved here, and never really thought he was all that deep. I honestly just thought that him loving the color red, basketball, and video games was just about all there was to him. But I swear I've learned way more about him in just the last short month than I had in the last ten years that we've been running around in the same group together. It's like, we spent all that time picking on each other (well, mostly him on me), wasting away all the time we could've had to be nice to and get to know each other. And I know this may seem like I'm jumping way far ahead into conclusions, but think about it, if we'd been nice to each other all along, we could be like in love or something by this point. There, I said it. But you know it's true. Ten years? That's a long time people!

Anyway, I really like him a lot still, even if we have only been on really good terms minus the mini arguments here and there for a month, and I don't like being mad at him, but would it really kill him to be a little more organized sometimes?

"Sharpay..." I heard him call my name in a slow, warning tone from behind me as I stormed off again. Sick of this, I whirled around, not caring that I'd just promised to be happy literally ten seconds ago, ready for whatever fight/argument he was probably going to try and pick with me this time. But when I saw that gorgeous smile of his spread across his face, something told me that there was no way in hell I could stay even the slightest bit mad at or annoyed with him any longer. Ever since he finally stopped giving me that stupid smirk that he always used to that I despise like nothing else in the world, no matter how sexy it looks on him, well...he's luckily since replaced it with this beautiful grin that he's always giving me nowadays, and I love that grin, and I'm pretty sure he knows that I do, because now he always uses it on me whenever he can sense that he or something else is bothering me or just for no reason sometimes too. And then he asked me the question that makes me melt like putty in his hands every time he wants it.

"Can I have a hug?"

and it's not so much the sentence itself, it's the way he asks it so innocently and adorably like nothing was ever wrong, like he's really just made any last traces of the problem go away- just like that, and how on earth is it possible for me to resist him when he does that?

_Fuck the tie,_ I don't care anymore_._

That's when I find myself falling into his ready and open arms, having this giddy little tingly feeling inside me, knowing that _I'm_ the only girl whose toned arms those are strictly reserved for, minus Gabriella and Taylor, who he only sees as sisters anyway. It's like, when I'm not getting annoyed with him, which I'm only annoyed with him sometimes now anyways, I'm falling for him more and more each passing second, but I don't think he knows how much I like him. I couldn't really tell you why though, but I'm pretty positive he has no idea how strongly I feel for him.

But I don't know, is it possible to love someone for ten years, but not really even realize it, until something happens to _make_ you realize it? Is that how I am with Troy? Or am I just a stupid teenager that falls in what feels close to "love" too quickly and easily and is going to end up with my heart broken when push comes to shove, when it all comes down to it? And how much does he even like me? And with the end of high school nearing, what's going to happen? I think he's got his heart set on Berkley, and I think I'm going to stay here at the U of A.

But maybe I'm getting way too far ahead of myself...I mean..._damn_, **shit**, crap, and HEL-LO? We're not even _"official"_...

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

"Hey Uncle Ted's here with the limo come see it!" my brother called up to me, Gabi, and Taylor a week later without taking a pause. My ears perked up at the news of Teddy and and the limo arriving finally, since they were fifteen minutes late but still here an hour before we were set to leave. Taking my newly pedicured feet out of my vibrating foot tub, I quickly sprinted down the stairs clad in my pink robe, followed closely behind by my best friends.

"Ryan! What are you doing already in your tux?" I screamed at my twin upon seeing him in the driveway, gazing proudly at the long, sleek black limo. But before he could respond, I kept on going. "Go upstairs and get out of that! Gabi can't see you yet!"

I would hate to see Troy in his tuxedo before I was supposed to- which is when he's standing at the bottom of the staircase gazing up at me as I elegantly descend the stairs and grace him with my presence with my parents at his sides like you see in all the movies, as I'd hate for him to see me in my dress before that moment, so I'm only trying to imagine what it must be like for Gabriella to see her boyfriend standing there all show offy in his suit before the time is right. So I'm only screaming at him you know- for her sake. I mean, I know it must be weird getting ready for prom when your date's bedroom is just down the hall from where you're getting ready, but the least Ryan can do is avoid us for another hour. So he basically needs to get lost _**now**_.

"Okay, sorry, sorry." Ryan quickly apologized, quickly running by us and shooting one quick smile at Gabriella before he disappeared back into the house. She looked at me and giggled.

"He's so cute," she gushed, and I just rolled my eyes. Those two have been dating for over a year now and they've still got the sickening cuteness factor/glow of a brand new little couple-couple thing going on. It's disgusting and somehow cute at the same time. God, how I hope I'm never like that with any future boyfriends...and let's just pretend that Troy's face didn't flash into my mind the moment you read that, mmkay?

"No drooling over boys right now, Gabi. That's the rule when there's a limo right in front of you!" I scolded her only half playfully, and Taylor nodded in agreement with me. The latina laughed.

"Okay, sorry, sorry."

"Okay don't, now you just sound like him." I said, walking towards the limo driver, Ted, who just so happens to be my favorite uncle in the entire world.

"Hey Teddy!" I greeted the 40 year old whom I've been calling Teddy for as long as I can remember. Okay, so he's not exactly really my uncle. He's my dad's best friend that's been a regular member at our family owned country club for years and not only owns a limo company, but is now helping my dad remodel Lava Springs, so he's basically like family. My parents even told me he helped teach me and Ryan how to walk since he'd taught his own daughter a year earlier who I hate and who hates me. I mean gosh, you blow out one first grader's birthday candles when you're in kindergarten and she just has to go and "accidentally" spill grape soda on your brand new dress. For god's sake, she was taking _way_too long to make a damn wish! Me? It was always "gimmie a pony, the end." but nooo not with brainless little Chelsea, who takes 25 million years to make one wish. But did I ever get my pony? No. Damn karma.

Anyways, now that Chelsea's about ready to graduate her freshman year of college, I'm just glad I never have to see that bitch that often anymore...except for practically every holiday break of course, and in a couple of weeks when she's probably going to come home from wherever her dungeon is and I'll be forced to pretend to like her like I always have to to please the 'rents all over again, when it's clear that she obviously wants me to go die in a hole somewhere anyway.

Sigh, if only tonight could last forever.

"Hey there, how's my favorite niece?" Ted asked me, giving me a side hug. I know with the way we're greeting each other, it would probably seem as if we haven't seen each other in weeks, but in truth, I saw him just last Sunday when he came over with his second wife Ciara and his son Patrick for lunch. Patrick's twelve and I love him to death, he's really the sweetest kid- and from what I've been told, a real ladies man among the sixth graders. So what the hell happened to his sister? I swear she is not from that family in actuality.

"I'm good," I smiled up at Teddy. "Thanks so much for the limo tonight!"

And not only is he being extremely helpful with daddy down at the club, he's also not making us pay a cent for the best limo he could find for us to use for however long we please tonight. He really is the best 'uncle' ever.

"Well, I know a girl's senior prom means everything to her and her friends. I remember how it was with Chelsea last year."

I nodded and smiled, not really caring about my hated "cousin's" prom but pretending to anyway just to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"It really is, tonight's going to be great!" I said enthusiastically.

"Can we go in?" Taylor asked excitedly, "just to check it out?"

"Sure." Ted said, and Taylor and Gabriella squealed and thanked him before running inside the longgg car.

"So you're our chauffer for tonight Teddy?" I asked him, eager to see the inside of the limo as well but also wanting to talk to him.

"You betcha, which reminds me- no tongue or other physical activity in the backseat." He said, but I could tell he was joking around.

"Oh come on it's not like you'd tell my dad anyway," I responded. He chuckled.

"Probably wouldn't, but how about for my benefit you kids keep everything PG?"

"Just don't look through the glass that separates us from you," I smirked. He just laughed.

"So whose the lucky fellow?" He asked me. When we'd made limo arrangements we hadn't really discussed my date or anything like that. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"This guy Troy, you've met him." I said. He'd met Troy a couple of times, as he'd been around sometimes when Ryan and I had the whole crew over.

"Oh yeah, seems like a nice young man." Ted nodded. "So, he your boyfriend now?"

I just smiled back in response.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

I sighed. "Nah, not yet I mean." I shrugged. "But you never know about the future."

I didn't tell Teddy that a part of me is actually pretty sad that there hardly is any future left for any kind of romance to brew between me and Troy. Just the rest of the school year and summer, but he can probably already assume that, so I don't see a point in saying it.

But I'm not gonna waste any part of tonight being bummed. This is the night I've been looking forward to since I was in third grade and could actually understand what a prom was. Tonight had to be absolutely perfect!

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

The agreement between all the girls, Ryan, Chad, and I was that me and Chad were supposed to meet at Ryan and Sharpay's house at exactly seven o'clock. Apparently, Ryan's supposed to answer the door so when the ladies come downstairs we can all be in awe at once or something while all the girl's moms stand by and take pictures. So I guess that means not only are Vance and Derby here (duh it's they're house) but Gabriella and Taylor's mothers are too. I guess all the women involved in this circle are all pretty close, including the mothers.

"Hey man." I said to Chad with an upwards gesture of my head in my friend's general direction as I climbed out of my crappy truck, which compared nothing to the lengthy dark limo in the driveway, and greeted Chad by his car.

"Hey, sweet ride tonight huh?" he said, glancing at what would be our ride to tonight's festivities. I nodded, remembering how a couple of weeks ago Sharpay had called me all in panic-attack mode desperately wondering if we should go with a black or white limo. I'd told her that whichever would be fine and to just take a deep breath, to which she'd responded with "I should've figured you'd be no help. Ugh you're such a guy Troy, I'm callin' Tay," before hanging up on me. Now I've just gotta wonder what finally led her to choosing the black one over the white.

After staring at the limo, which appeared to be empty, for a while longer, I told Chad that we should probably head inside now. So he followed me to the ridiculously large front door of the freakin' mansion where Sharpay and Ryan live (but they get all pissed off every time you call it a mansion because even though they're rich, for some reason they get really uncomfortable when you bring it up or hint at it if even just a little bit, when the whole school knows they're loaded already anyway so what's the point in denying it and longer when they obviously know it too,) and rang the doorbell, starting off the night.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

I've been spending this whole entire time freaking out and living on caffeinated beverages while I frantically was running around trying to make everything perfect, that I almost had never thought that the nerves would still be within me, only twenty five times worse, on the actual night of the prom when the boys came to pick us up.

Well, maybe I should've considered that option, because when the ring of the doorbell sounded throughout the house at approximately 7:08 PM, the pink lipstick I was applying at the time smeared all over the left side of my face when I jumped startled by the not even all that sudden noise of the bell.

"Fuck my life and all my future children!"

"What happened?" Gabriella asked me, immediately rushing to my side, nearly tripping over her heels in the process.

If you're a close friend of mine, then you know that whenever I include the "my life and all my children" part of that sentence in my exclamations, especially the "all my children" part, that the situation _must_ be a pretty **freakin**' horrible one.

But I knew that she knew that no explanation was needed when she caught sight of my pink streaked face.

The doorbell rang again.

"Motherf- IS SOMEONE GONNA GET THAT?!" I screamed down the stairs to whoever would hear me whether it be Ryan, one of our parents, Gabriella or Taylor's mom, or Teddy. Last I checked, which was about half an hour ago, all the adults were sitting around the kitchen elegantly sipping on iced teas and making small talk, so shouldn't they still be down here now?

"I'll get it!" Ryan's voice called back to me, though not from down the stairs, but from his bedroom next door to mine through this weird everywhere-which-way-and-that speaker thing we have hooked up in our house in every single room. See, my voice is the only one in my family who'se doesn't need to be spoken through a speaker in order to get my message across to everyone. I can be well louder than a siren when needed to be.

"Tay can you go get me a damp washcloth? Warm please. Oh, and a dry one?" I asked my friend, going from all pissed off and beyond stressed one moment to all polite and mannered the next. Really, Gabriella and Taylor are the only two I hardly ever flip a bitch on- just sometimes.

"Sure thing," Taylor replied, setting down her own tube of lipstick on my vanity and heading for the conjoined bathroom to my bedroom.

"Chad and Troy are here." Ryan informed me through the speaker. Groaning, I tore my gaze away from the mirror I was staring in horror and disapproval at and went over to it.

"Well I'm gonna be a few more minutes," I informed my twin through the speaker while pressing down on the "talk" button. I released it then, waiting to hear his response.

"Yeah, yeah." Ryan said, and then I heard another familiar voice flow through the sound system, replacing his annoying one.

"Hey Shar, you almost ready to get outta here?" the new voice asked me carefully, and I actually almost smiled by just the sound of his voice.

_Get a hold of yourself, Sharpay!_

"Here you are." Taylor said, returning to the room with one damp towel and one dry one. I took them and thanked her quickly while she went to go finish her makeup, before turning back to the speaker-microphone-thing that I'm still not sure what the proper name for it is.

"Yes, just a few more minutes." I repeated what I'd said to Ryan, only in a less snappy tone and figuring there was no need to explain to him the whole lipstick fiasco story.

"Alright, well, there's no rush. We're just wondering is all." Troy told me, probably assuming that by him asking if we were almost ready I took that as he was purposely trying to rush me instead. Aww, he knows me so well now.

"Okay," I said before leaving the speaker thing-a-ma-jig and back over to the mirror I'd been at. I scowled at my reflection in disapproval and gently tried to wipe/rub off the stupid lipstick smear, worried that if I rubbed too hard it would turn my cheek red.

"Ugh, this sucks." I complained to my friends with a groan, carefully scrubbing myself with the washcloth that was damp.

"It'll come off though, don't worry." Gabriella tried soothingly.

"No, not this in particular. This whole thing in general. Why do I always have to stress myself out all the time?" I shook my head, knowing for a fact that I needed to be calmer about everything but not being able to.

"Because you look at the big picture instead of taking things one by one in little steps," she replied, and instead of glaring and saying "Who asked you anyway?" like I probably would have to anyone else (because clearly it was supposed to be meant as a rhetorical question), I just shrugged and mumbled a "whatev."

Five minutes later, I finally had the smear cleaned off and my makeup as perfect as I could get it without any professional help like I'd had done on my hair just a couple of hours ago. My hair was curled and down with my bangs crossing over to the right side of my face, and was looking blonde as ever. The bleached blonde color looks really fake and sometimes even tacky on a lot of people, but I honestly think I make it work. My dress is this pretty light pink one that goes just a couple of inches past the knee and kind of flares out at the ends and has this cute little pink ribbon that wraps around underneath the breast area and ties into a bow at the front . I actually found this one shopping online not long ago, after I'd already picked out that lavender one I found at the store a little over a month ago. But when I found this dress online, I knew I'd made a huge mistake by going with the other one instead that had been my original first choice. Don't get me wrong, the lavender one was great, but this one I just find even better. Plus, it has crystals. Glamorous Swarovski crystals decorating a good front portion of the dress, but not all 'over the top or anything', just the right amount and a good majority of sparkly crystals are just so completely and totally me.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

I had just downed my second can of Pepsi (hard to sneak any form of alcohol past the parentals), when Derby Evans came rushing into the kitchen, telling Chad and I to come on because the girls were finally ready.

Ryan was already waiting at the bottom of the long staircase when we ran in there practically tripping over our shiny black shoes due to Derby practically screaming "Go! Go! Go!" as we got out of our seats at the kitchen counter. Mrs. Mckessie and Montez- ready with their digital cameras, followed closely behind us and Vance Evans and Ted the limo driver -slash- family friend of the Evanses were hot on their heels.

"How are they supposed to know to come down now?" Chad asked anyone in the room that was willing to answer.

"Already on it." Derby said, already in mid-text message mode on her cellular. (Jesus Christ who actually says cellular anymore?)

"I'll have to thank Sharpay for teaching me how to do this later." The older woman muttered to herself whilst clicking away on the mobile. I couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought of Sharpay attempting to teach her mother how to text. With how impatient that girl could be, I imagine how intense something even as simple as that must've been.

Gabriella was the first to come walking elegantly down the steps, and I smiled, not only because she did admittedly look great, but also because it reminded me of how last week on the phone when I was talking to Sharpay, I asked her what she was doing and she replied "Walking up and down the stairs with Gabi and Tay" and when I'd asked why, her reply had been "just practicing so that on the day of the prom we don't like trip or something down the staircase."

She really is a little bit too over prepared, but I suppose it's all just for the better.

"You look beautiful." The voice of Ryan cut into my thoughts, and everyone watched as the couple- Gabriella with her long shiny blue dress with her hair in what looked to be some kind of complicated up-do, and Ryan in his matching deep blue tie and black suit, greeted each other at the bottom of the steps. They smiled at each other and probably being too shy to kiss in front of everyone, joined hands before Ryan handed her the corsage he bought her and she handed him his boutonniere (which I only know the names of because of the countless number of times Sharpay told me.)

"Estás hermosa, mi amor" Gina told her daughter, meaning "you're gorgeous, my love". I took Spanish last semester. Gabriella had made me, saying she was tired of me always asking "what are you guys talking about?" whenever her and her mom were having a conversation in that language.

Gabriella smiled at her. "Thanks, mom. And thanks for helping me with my hair." (Her, Taylor, and Sharpay's mom's had apparently been upstairs around 45 minutes ago to help the girls with "finishing touches." That's what they'd been talking about in the kitchen beforehand with Chad, Ted, Vance, and I.)

"You sure got a keeper, son." Vance told Ryan, lightly placing a hand on his shoulder, causing both Ryan and Gabriella to blush furiously. I held back a laugh.

After several more seconds full of everyone (or mostly everyone) in the room ogling Ryan and Gabriella with that weird "cute" factor that all the girls claim those two have and telling them how good they looked, Derby announced that she was going to tell Sharpay for the next girl whether it be her or Taylor come down. I could never really understand that though- I mean, why couldn't all three of them just come down at once? Of course, when Id asked Sharpay this, her reply had been "every girl needs to have her own moment in the spotlight, Troy." in this tone of voice that me I was already supposed to know that for some reason.

Anyway, we all glanced at each other, muttering Taylor's name knowingly, sure that Sharpay was going to want to be the one to come down last.

We were right, because that's when suddenly Taylor's frame rounded the corner, appearing at the top of the stairs. She smiled down at us- the crowd before her, and slowly started descending the steps one by one. Chad let out a low whistle when she was about halfway down a couple of seconds later. I saw all three girls mom's clicking away on their cameras (not just one, but all three) out of the corner of my eye, like they'd done with Gabriella earlier as the girl- clad in this shimmering type knee length black dress with her hair straightened and cut off just below the chin, came waltzing down.

"Well hello there, oh beautiful-girlfriend-of-mine." Chad greeted his girl, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. She laughed and told him he "didn't look so bad himself," before they exchanged the finishing touches for their outfits as well. All of this mambo just caused me to resist the urge to roll my eyes impatiently in spite of myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my friends, but all of this just makes me all the more eager to see my own date for the night coming downstairs to greet _me_.

"Lookin' good, Tay." Ryan smiled at his sister's and girlfriend's best friend and his own (or one of them.) And rather then being jealous from the compliment meant for her friend like other people would, but not anyone in our group, Gabriella smiled and nodded in agreement, even though she'd already seen Taylor just minutes ago upstairs. I nodded too and told her she looked great, as did her mom, Gabriella's mom, and Sharpay's mom, while Vance and Ted stood nearby nodding politely in a silent agreement. She thanked us all.

"Now all we need is Sharpay, and then we can take couple pictures." Gabriella said excitedly. Derby nodded, already typing a message on her cell phone.

After that precise moment, I felt time drone on slower then I'd ever before experienced time in my life. Sharpay was next, last, and third, and was finally coming downstairs to greet me. (Er...I mean, us.) But it seemed to take forever, because the more I stood staring at the top of the staircase, the longer time seemed to expand, and what was probably only a minute or less, felt like hours before that silver high heeled foot placed itself on the top step.

Starting at her shiny strappy-looking shoes, I worked my way up her body- taking in her sweet bodily features. Now Sharpay did have kind of lean legs, but still sexy to me all the same. Her dress was light pink, just like she'd said, not short but not long,and had that special Sharpay touch of sparkles decorating parts of it.

_Glamorous_, she'd say.

_Hot_, I'd say.

I could see the flashes of yellow as Derby, Gina, and Sheryl snapped photos of the alluring woman coming down towards us; and she probably felt like a celebrity in a crowd of paparazzi in those flashing lights, and all I could really concentrate on was her.

I finally let my eyes follow up to meet hers, and as they locked at once- brown and blue coming together in a mix of gray. I felt the corners of my mouth curling upward in the form of a smirk, which she returned.

I didn't even realize how fast my heart was beating until I stepped forward and reached my hand out to take hers, and god help me, but I even felt the strange surge of warmth thats' really kind of indescribable course throughout my body from the moment her small hand slid into mine.

"Hi," she smiled at me in a way that either was or could just be mistaken as adoringly, and I grinned back at her.

"I can't even begin to describe how gorgeous you are." I whispered to her, looking at her still curved-upwards lips and contemplating whether I should kiss her at this moment. I decided not to, luckily remembering the nine other people in the room- but only for a moment, before my attention went back to being fully focused on her.

"Thanks. You're adorable, Bolton." Sharpay said, pinning her (or technically, mine I guess) boutonniere to my suit jacket. "And you actually got the tie." There were obvious hints of humor in her voice. "It takes a real man to where pink." She told me with a wink.

"I told you I would." I chuckled, sliding the corsage I'd been carrying around all night onto her wrist. "And wow Shar, ha. Thanks."

She looked at me for a moment before quickly glancing around at the other people in the room, but I just continued staring at her. She looked back at me then, apparently having decided something because that's when she raised her makeup-perfected face to mine and kissed me quickly before pulling away. I stiffened a little in surprise. She doesn't do that very often. _We_ don't do that very often, even though I always want to we just...don't really. Just sometimes. On occasion.

"Oh, you look absolutely amazing, honey." Gina told her. She grinned.

"Thanks, Gina."

"Yeah," Ryan shrugged. "I guess once you get past the whole anxiety thing the rest of you I guess isn't all that bad."

Everyone in the room laughed at once as Sharpay glared playfully at her brother. "Yeah, whatever Ryan."

After more compliments to Sharpay and Gabriella and Taylor from Vance, Sheryl, Derby, Gina, and Ted, we finally got one step closer to leaving for the school when Sheryl suggested we get to the picture taking portion of the evening.

The adults took a few pictures of Taylor and Chad first, then Sharpay and myself, followed by ones of just Ryan and Gabriella. After the two-person pictures, the girls posed for several together, then just us guys- me, Ryan, and Chad, and then lastly- group photos of all six of us together. (Each couple took turns being in the middle and on either side.) and then Derby, who said it'd be good for scrap booking or something, insisted on pictures of the four Evanses' together for just a couple of pictures. And just when we thought that was finished, Mrs. Evans cut in again at the last minute saying she would really love one of her son and daughter together.

"Uh, but he's not my prom date." Sharpay pointed out, "Ew."

"Hey, love you too, sis." Ryan said sarcastically, and Sharpay just laughed and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Oh, come here little bro."

"Ten minutes, just ten minutes." The younger twin muttered with an eye roll, casually draping an arm across his sister's shoulders anyway.

And finally, after probably fifteen or twenty minutes on what was just spent taking pictures, a now impatient but trying hard to hide it Ted escorted us out to the limo as the rest of the adults shouted after us to have a good time, and finally, finally, finally once we were all seated comfortably in the back, we were off.

East High, watch out.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

"I can't believe how many pictures they made us take!" Gabriella said with a laugh as Teddy pulled out of the driveway.

"Seriously," Tay agreed. "I'm still seeing random blurs of color and lights in the air!" She then blinked several times to prove her point. The rest of us laughed again. It wasn't as though what she said was really that funny or anything- it was more so the excitement I guess. The night hadn't even started yet and luckily I'm already cooling down. It's actually even kind of (not really, but kind of at least) surprised with how jumpy and anxious I was just probably half an hour ago. But I'm glad I'm kind of calming down a little. I mean, luckily I didn't slip and tumble down the stairs or anything when I made my grand appearance earlier- at least that had gone perfect as planned. Troy looked so flippin' cute in his little black suit and pink tie. (I never knew that color to look so hot on him. Seriously, no boy has ever worn my favorite color that well,) and he luckily thought I looked great too. I already thought I'd looked pretty good, but it felt nice to hear it from _him_, y'know?

And then when I'd kissed him ever so shortly at the bottom of the stairwell...well, he'd seemed kind of surprised. I guess because there'd been nine other people watching us closely. But I really didn't and don't even care. I've made a deal with myself to just go on and kiss him whenever I want too. Why hold back anyway? This _is_after all, Troy Bolton we're talking about here. Handsome, sweet, adorable, non-jerkish anymore Troy Bolton. Ever since that day out on the lake, for some reason we really haven't kissed all that much. Just a few times here and there, but I really don't even know why. We both know we like each other, right? So why do we still remain shy about lip-locking? We hug all the time and hold hands and kiss each other on the cheek and all that stuff, but rarely does he ever make a move to kiss me on the mouth anymore, and I'm kind of getting tired of it. I know it's only been shortly over a month but...still. And if you think about it, we're really not moving fast at all, considering with how long I've known him. If anything it's too slow. I'd just been joking around with Teddy earlier about all the stuff about messing around in the backseat, obviously.

I smiled up at Troy from my seat next to him on the leather seat in the limo, and he smiled back at me, holding my left hand secure in his lap with his right and keeping his other arm around me. I sank back in the seat, relaxing finally and completely for what seemed to be the first time in ages, knowing that tonight was surely going to be a night to remember no matter what.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

_A/N: Part II on next page ya'll!!!_


	2. Part Dos!

**Complicated: Part II**

**D**id I forget to mention that I'm actually nominated for this year's Prom King? Big shocker huh. And you can take that sarcastically or not, honestly, I'm not even sure how I meant it either. I guess with all this past week's drama and stress about tonight (mostly put on me because of Sharpay), that little detail kind of pushed itself to the back of my mind. Well, at the beginning of the evening, when we walked into the gym decorated in a way that would make Hollywood jealous (haha, not really. But Hollywood _was_ supposed to be our "theme"), that little fact came rushing back to my memory when several people came up to me and wished me luck for it.

At first, I was at least sort of excited, thinking that it would be kind of cool to win, but also knowing I wouldn't care really if I didn't win. Because Ryan was _also_nominated- apparently being the head honcho male of the drama club really served as a good position for him. Melique Mayfield was the third person nominated for king tonight- he was the football quarterback.

But halfway through the night, I was beginning to have second thoughts when I found out Sharpay's opinion on the whole matter. I guess she hates one of the girls nominated for Queen. Allysin Davis. And she's all worried that I'll have to dance with her if we win King and Queen. I'm not quite sure why those two are less than fond of each other, though. I guess the logical thing to assume, however, would or could be that those two did in fact show up in exactly the same dress tonight, which I could tell by the look on Sharpay's face the moment she realized this, that it immediatley ruined her entire night.

"It looks better on you." I'd told her immediately, desperately trying to soothe her before she had a meltdown. But apparently she hadn't heard me, as she was already on her way over to where Allysin was standing chatting it up with her girlfriends. Who was that girl's date, anyway?

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

"Nice outfit."

I tried my best to maneuver my best icy-bitch look as I approached stupid Allysin Davis. But when she looked at me all innocently with those stupid blue eyes that strongly resemble the color of Troys (but look twenty million times better on him), I could tell by the look on her stupid face that she wasn't the least bit intimidated.

"Oh, Sharpay! I didn't see you there."

"Of course not, considering, I _just_ appeared here two seconds ago." I snapped. "Where did you get that dress?"

She smirked at me then, and it took all I had to hold back from punching her square in the jaw right then and there.

"Daddy's people. Isn't it great?"

She refers everything to her stupid daddy's stupid people. I've known her since stupid kindergarten and she's always used that as a stupid explanation for everything. Everything about her is pretty much stupid.

"The picture online looked better." I told her, before adding "And the one's my mother took of me do, too."

My eyes followed hers as she gave me the classic once-over, apparently, just realizing it now that we practically looked like clones of each other. Her stupid face contorted into that of anger- pleasing me for only a split second before that stupid fake smile reappeared on her face.

"Well, good luck on Prom Queen."

My jaw clenched, and I hissed through gritted teeth. "You know I'm not nominated."

Her stupid smirk reappeared. "What a shame. Wish _me_ luck then?"

As if. I'd sooner have some stuck up bitch celebrity show up randomly and take the title instead of her. Like Vanessa Hudgens. (I'm sorry xD I couldn't resist!)

The thought of Allysin Davis sharing a slow dance with Troy if they both won sickened me like nothing else in the world, and even though I'm pretty sure Allysin was well aware of that fact, I was so not about to let her know just how much it bothered me.

"All the luck in the world." I spat sarcastically, whirling around and stomping back over to Troy, who apparently had been watching the entire time.

"What happened over there?" he asked me, placing his hands on my elbows since my arms were crossed.

"I just hate her."

I don't care how dramatic I'm being. I'm pretty sure that every girl's worst nightmare on prom is for anyone- especially her enemy of all people, showing up wearing the same outfit as her. It's like getting a zit on your wedding day. Awful, terrible, horrible, and nothing you can do about it no matter how hard you try and try to get rid of it. I also don't care that i just compared Allysin Davis to a bulging swollen blemish, either. She is one, after all. She's the one that told the whole school last year that I was a whore because apparently I hooked up with her dumb boyfriend Will at some party last year (WHICH I DIDN'T) and who dumped her over the summer, just because Ms. Darbus named _me_(and Ryan) co-president of the drama club instead of her. So, she started this whole feud.

"Shar- just..." I could tell Troy was trying to hard to come up with something good to say that would help calm me down at least somewhat.

"Okay, honestly, you both look good tonight." (I tried my best to not let the hatred I was feeling for stupid Allysin Davis show right at the moment he said that about...her..well, me too...but still...he said she looked... good. Excuse me while I gag to death!)

"But if you wanna compare the both of you, well, you're Jessica Alba and she's...Rosie O'Donell."

"Don't try and sweet talk me, Bolton." I said with an eye roll and a partial smile, secretly pleased that he would say that- minus the first part.

"Well, is it working?" He smirked.

"You'll find out later." I said, reaching for his hand and pulling him over to the main crowd of people on the dance floor, still not totally happy about the way this evening was turning out so far, but trying as best I could to hide the way I really felt.

I danced with Troy to a couple of songs- both of them being fast ones; ("Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston and "I Know You Want Me"- Pitbull. Typical "party" music.) But then I was whisked away from him by Gabriella and Taylor who wanted me to jump around with them to "Untouched" by the Veronicas. And just as we were headed over to the ladies' room afterwards to go freshen up a little, Leona Lewis's "I Will Be" comes on and suddenly I'm feeling a warm hand grab hold of my gently by the arm and Troy is turning me around to face him. He grins at me then- that charming, love-able grin that once again makes everything okay and which makes me feel like maybe I don't have to keep on avoiding stupid Allysin Davis all night so we don't look ridiculous standing near each other (not like I would've hung around her anyways. Ew.)

I distractedly muttered to my friends to go onto the restroom without me as I was being pulled onto the dance floor by my date. His right hand placed itself on my waist and his other one held tightly onto my right one and my left went to his warm shoulder.

"Having fun?" he asked me as we began to sway easily to the pop ballad.

"Well, there's a few bumps in the road here and there but for the most part? I'd say, yes." I smiled, with pursed lips, the bump in my road clearly being stupid Allysin Davis. I really can't seem to use her name in a sentence without the word "stupid" being in there somewhere, can I?

"Great," he said, catching me off guard by spinning me around before drawing me back into our original stance.

"Easy there, Troy." I giggled. He smirked.

"You didn't call me Bolton."

I chuckled. "Don't get used to it."

He just shook his head, smiled, and pulled me closer to him as we continued our dance. I just...I love it when he holds me like this. Especially now, with as good at slow dancing I've just realized he is.

We didn't talk for the rest of the song, we just danced close together enjoying each others company. And by the time Leona wrapped up the final note, I'd found that my arms had somehow already repositioned themselves around Troy's neck and his were completely wrapped around my waist so it was basically like we'd been hugging while dancing, and I hadn't even noticed it before just now.

I drew away slowly from the stance as another fast song came blasting through the speakers set up in the gym next, but I couldn't quite tell what the song was because it almost sounded far away since I was only concentrating on one thing and one thing only.

Troy's lips.

And just like I'd promised myself earlier in the limo, I didn't even try and make myself consider it for a moment before pressing my mouth flush against his- my eyelids shutting and cutting off my line of vision. He responded by locking his arms tighter around me and applying more pressure to the kiss we were now wrapped up in together. I didn't even care if my lipstick that I'd had so much trouble with earlier this evening was getting smeared.

I was practically forced away from him a little while later when some nervy bitch slammed into me from behind, causing both me and Troy to break apart and stumble a bit. Furious, I whirled around, not the least bit surprised but beyond pissed off as I glared into the once again innocent looking face of, once again, _stupid _Allysin Davis.

"Oops," she smirked with a shrug of a stupid skinny shoulder as she continued bouncing along to the fast paced music. "My bad."

She looked at Troy then for a moment, and I swear her stupid blue eyes nearly popped out of her stupid head all googly at that moment and I literally felt the strongest urge to vomit as she practically drooled over him. Everyone knows she's been interested in Troy ever since they got paired together for some biology experiment a few months back, which just makes me even more worried about them taking the crowns tonight because she'd be sure to try something.

"Hi, Troy." She smiled, giggling flirtatiously in this disgusting way and showing off her stupid perfectly straight and pure white teeth. If I didn't hate her so much, I'd probably tell her she should be in a toothpaste ad or something.

"Hi." Troy responded flatly.

"Go back to your date, Davis, and quit bumping into people who clearly have better lives than _you_." I snarled, in attempts and hope of cutting off any further conversation between her and, if I may phrase it this way, _my_man. Shockingly enough for me, this bitch actually did have a date. Tony Lujan. This guy who was on the school's lacrosse team and who has been pretty good friends with (stupid) Allysin since they were in diapers or something. The whole school knows that Tony has the world's biggest crush on her, though, and has for a while. But she's only ever been to busy messing around with other guys to bother to give him the time of day. So if anything she's the whore. Which is why it strikes me as odd that she would call me one last year and why she even came to the prom with Tony in the first place when clearly she's not interested in him, but instead in Troy, who too bad for her, is interested in me. Haha.

Either way I hate her no matter what.

"Tony's busy getting me a bottled water, and oh you have a better life than me, hm? That would explain why I'm nominated and you're not. And why my dress makes you look like a cow."

I would never let anyone know how much those words stung me, especially the last part of them. I instead tried to shake off my hurt by firing back with some kind of threat- something like "Watch yourself skank, before this 'cow' breaks your skeleton-ish little limbs into pieces," but just as I was about to, Troy spoke instead.

"Allysin...really...just...shut the _fuck _up." He told her, and I wanted to kill myself for not having a camera at that precise moment so I could capture the mixed look of stunned/surprise/hurt that immediately crossed stupid Allysin Davis's now pale face the very second Troy spat those words at her. Her facial expression, without a doubt, would be _the_ most fun to come up with a caption under in the school yearbook. And since both Gabriella and Taylor are on the yearbook committee, I could sure as hell get them to print anything I wanted, even this late in the school year.

Troy grabbed my arm after that and dragged me away, only giving me a second longer to inwardly crack up at Allysin's apparently frozen in still expression. And by the time he'd dragged me all the way out to the deserted East High hallway, I was in hysterics.

"Did you _see_ the look on her face?" I said to Troy, laughing in between words. He just shrugged.

"She's a bitch," he answered, as if that was the explanation to everything. Which really, it was.

"Well, thank you for realizing what I've been trying to tell you all this time." I said, my laughter dying down.

"Sharpay, I've always known, but unlike girls do I don't freak out about it."

"Are you saying that I do?" I asked, suddenly not finding anything humorous any longer.

"Well, honestly...about a lot of things, yeah." He shrugged again.

"Oh really?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Like what, Bolton?"

He looked at me for a minute. "Well, like the dress. It wasn't really that big of a deal."

I gazed at him in shock. "It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand." I said after a moment, trying to brush him off.

"Okay, well, it's kind of dumb that you two hate each other because of a dress."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked, dumbfounded. Did he really think this whole thing was only over the dress? I mean, that certainly added to it, but there was plenty more. Like the whore thing. And the drama club co-presidency thing. And the fact that I don't know what I'll do if they win tonight which we're going to find out in like twenty minutes or less. But damn. Are boys really _that_ simple minded?

"It's not just about the dress, Troy."

"What is it then?"

I scoffed. "Do you not remember the whole fiasco that happened with me and her last year?"

He seemed to think about it for a minute. "You mean when she told everyone you screwed her boyfriend or something?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, but nodded anyway. He really didn't need to phrase it that way, even if yes, that was basically it. But I repeat, it is not true. No matter what she says.

"Well, it was a year ago, you should both get over it."

"How am I supposed to get over it when she: _one_, repeatedly throws it in my face that she has a chance at prom queen and I don't." I said, holding up one finger as I started to list off things. I then lifted a second finger as I started my second reason. "_Two_, rams into me clearly on purpose when I'm in the middle of kissing _you_, and _three_- calls me fat!"

Troy shook his head and sighed. "Alright, well, I understand the second reason- but that just adds to her being a bitch."

"So just because she's a bitch that makes it okay?"

"No, that's not what I meant but- agh, I don't know, nevermind. Let's just go back inside." Troy said, pulling open the gym door and holding it open for me. But I ignored the gesture, not willing to let him off that easy.

"And why don't you understand my first or third reasons?"

He blinked at me, still holding the door open. "What?"

"You said you could understand why I basically hate her for slamming into me like that. But nothing about the other two reasons."

"Which are what again?"

I sighed. "That she repeatedly throws it in my face that she has a chance at prom queen, and I don't, and that she called me fat!"

"Well, prom queen is just a title and a crown, it's not a big deal. And you know you're not fat, so that's nothing to get mad over either." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You stuck up for me, you got mad too." I told him in my own defense. "And it's not just a crown and a title, you're so simple minded Troy, it's way more than that!"

"I only stuck up for you because I know that it bothered you, even though it shouldn't of. And fine, what is it then?"

"She's going to be throwing herself all over you if you both win!" I practically screamed, frustrated. Why didn't he get it? It was pretty freakin' obvious if you ask me.

".............Why does that bother you?" he asked quietly, after a long moment of silence. Okay, now he was just playing games. He couldn't be _that_ stupid. There was no way.

"You know _damn_well why it bothers me!" I exclaimed, stamping my stilletoed foot on the hard marble hallway ground.

"Sharpay-"

"Forget it, good freaking luck on winning." I said, brushing past him and into the gym, holding back tears, because he really didn't seem to care if stupid Allysin Davis _did _hang all over him. Once back in the gym, the bright happy sounds of chatter, laughter, and The White Tie Affair's "Candle" greeted me as I went off in search of my friends. I spotted Taylor first, but she was rocking it out pretty nice over there with Chad, so I didn't want to bother them, though I'm sure they probably wouldn't mind if I joined them, I still didn't want to interrupt their time together. So I set on trying to find either Gabi or my brother dearest next.

I found them five minutes later, whispering to each other by the refreshment table.

"Hey guys." I said, approaching them. They smiled at me warmly by way of greeting.

"Hey Shar," Gabriella said, giving me a side hug. "Where's Troy?"

"Probably off making out with Allysin Davis somewhere."

I knew that was out of line, but I couldn't really help it right now.

"What?"

"Uh oh," Ryan said alertly. "Smells like drama. I'll catch up with you guys later." He said, kissing Gabriella's cheek quickly and then mine before shuffling away. I learned long ago how much Ryan hates to be around whenever I started ranting off about something, which he could probably sense I was about to start doing now. "It's not that I don't care, Shar," he'd told me one time, "I just know how bad it can get sometimes."

"Well aren't you supportive," I'd said sarcastically, but he'd just shrugged and gave me a half-ass apology.

"What happened with Troy?" Gabriella asked me once he was gone, looking at me carefully with warm brown eyes. I shrugged.

"We had another fight. Basically over the 'royalty' nominations and crap." I said with a shake of my head as if it was no big deal- as if it _wasn't_ killing me inside.

"I'm sorry." My friend said apologetically, knowing that if I wanted to get into full swing detail than I would've, but since I didn't, then I clearly didn't want to talk about it really. "But whatever it was, he'll come around, don't worry."

"Says who?" I asked desperately, already feeling regretful about stomping away from him. I was still pretty upset by the whole thing, but at the same time I knew that the next time I saw him tonight all I would want to do is run into his arms and forget everything that happened in the hallway. Damn. I couldn't even believe this, but I seriously missed him already, and it'd only been what- five minutes? Six maybe? Seven?

"Fate." Gabriella grinned, and I couldn't help but laugh at that one.

"Corny much Gabi?"

"Well, you know it's true."

"Actually, I don't. This night has pretty much sucked so far, and it's all thanks to stupid Allysin Davis. I mean, I know I'm not always the nicest person around, but even my fate _can't_ be this horrible. First, that bitch just has to show up in the same dress as me. Then, she purposely breaks it up when I'm kissing Troy- which rarely ever freaking happens. Next, she's probably going to win stupid queen and then suggest to Troy that they play the _In My Pants_ game."

"She broke up your kiss?"

"Yeah, she like, rammed into me right in the middle of it." I rolled my eyes. "God, I hate her."

"Well...besides all that, haven't you been having fun? I mean this is our Senior Prom, Shar. Don't let one bimbo ruin it all for you. You can't let her get to you."

"I know." I said with a groan, feeling all small and pathetic. "I know I shouldn't let any part of her bother me. But I can't help it. I just..." I rubbed my arms nervously. "I like Troy too much to not care. But I'm sick of fighting with him."

"Then what are you still doing here?" Gabriella asked me. I shot her a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Go get your boy, Shar." She said, gesturing forward with her head, indicating that I turn around. When I did I saw Troy a good twenty or so feet away, with his hands stuffed casually into his suit pockets as he laughed at something one of his friends on the basketball team- Tyler Morris, was saying.

Acting like everything was perfect and normal without a care in the world.

"What's the point? He's clearly doing just fine without me." I huffed, turning back around to face my friend.

"He's not gonna sulk in a corner. You know how guys are, they hide their emotions well."

"Come on," I scoffed, "are you basically saying that he's over there, cracking up with Tyler, but inside really hoping to God that I'd come over and talk to him?"

"Basically." Gabriella nodded reassuringly.

I sighed. "I don't know, Bri..."

"Sharpay, lemme put it this way," she said, "you can either spend the rest of the night unhappy, standing around the snack table, or you can go over there, make up with your future husband, dance a whole lot more, make out in the limo later, and call it a night."

I don't know why but for some reason I could feel the blush creeping it's way up my neck as she said this. "Slow down Gabs, let's not get ahead of ourselves here." I said, trying to cover up my embarrassment with a nervous laugh.

"Well, you gonna go over there or not?" she asked me impatiently. It took me a moment to reply.

"I am.......................................................................................................not."

"Sharpay!" Gabriella scolded.

"Whaaat?" I whined.

"Go." She said, pointing with her index finger over to where Troy was. "Talk. To. Troy."

And then, when I turned back around slowly, just to get another glimpse at him, I couldn't believe how shocked I was to find him already staring straight at me. So suddenly, not quite sure where all the confidence randomly came from, but thinking maybe it had something to do with his captivating puppy dog-ish eyes, I took a deep breathe and walked right up to him, trying my best to tune out all my other surroundings.

"Hi."

He'd appeared a bit worried at first as I'd approached him- probably thinking I was going to come over and scream at him or something. But the second the one-syllabled word left my mouth, his face broke out into a smile.

"Hi."

I wish he wouldn't do that. Trust me when I say I'd been fully prepared to go over there and attempt to force an apology out of him for pretty much acting like he didn't care if you know who hung all over him like she was a stripper and he was her pole. (ICK!) But when he does things as tiny as he just did- completely turn his attention on me and away from Tyler Morris, and give me that cute little smile, even I, Sharpay Evans, just couldn't bring myself to bring up the little argument we'd had just minutes before.

"I'm sorry."

Wait, wait, _wait_just one minute here. I said I wasn't going to bring up the argument and just not make him apologize, and here_ I _am- apologizing myself. Now I definitely had not planned on doing that. How did that just randomly slip?!

His eyebrows shot up in a way that made him look just as surprised as I felt. It seemed to take him a moment to remember how to use his words.

"For?"

I shrugged. Great. I put myself in this awkward owning-up position. Now how was I supposed to get myself out?

"Overreacting, I guess."

As you can see, I'm not very good with the whole "taking responsibility for your own poor actions" thing. But I guess all I can do is just try and tell him what I can only assume he wants to hear.

Troy shrugged. "Okay, then I am too, for making you think I didn't care."

I just nodded, wishing we could skip all this pre-make-up-still-awkward shit and skip straight ahead to the part where he pulls me into a warm and reassuring hug and all the awkwardness vanishes just like that.

But after that, we just kind of stared at each other, and I did the only thing I could think of to do in this kind of awkward panicky situation.

I turned and started to walk away.

"Sharpay." His voice was calm as he called after me. I turned back to face him, looked at him, but said nothing.

He reached his hand out to take mine.

"I've been meaning to ask you something all night," he told me, gently running his thumb across the back of my hand, and staring at me with those blue eyes in a way that made me feel like I was the only girl or only other person in general in the room.

I blinked at him. "Yeah?"

And just as he opened his mouth to go on with it as the current song playing was just ending, Mrs. Phelps- the cool, everyone loves her (except for me at the moment), vice principal of the school spoke into the microphone, asking for all the nominees for this years king and queen to please join her on stage.

I glanced back and forth blankly from her to Troy, who was now just giving the VP a look that I couldn't quite read, but said something along the lines of "_damnit_."

"Um," I spoke quietly, smoothly pulling my hand from his grasp, not really bothering to hid my disappointment. "You better go."

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

I stared at Sharpay for a moment after what she'd said.

_You better go_.

Three simple words that I know where supposed to be telling me to basically walk away from her and pray to grab my chance at the crown. Her words gave me her blessing, but her heart I know didn't. She'd said it, alright, but what she meant was _Go, or stay and continue with what you were saying. But if you do go, then I know what's more important to you._

But then she would be wrong. Because what was more important to me- a cheap plastic crown and a title, or Sharpay Evans herself?

The second one would have to be the correct answer. But I knew that if I did what she told me to do- which was to go, then that would leave her thinking otherwise.

"I better." I agreed, nodding my head. "But I'm not."

She scrunched up her face in confusion at me. "You have to, they're gonna keep calling you up otherwise."

"I don't care, I'm already in the middle of something more important."

"And what's that?" she asked me, her expression drawing a blank.

So this was it, it was now or never- asking her what I've been wanting to ask her forever. "Sharpay, will you go out with me? As in, be my girlfriend?"

And the second the words were out of my mouth, I felt someone come up and grab me from behind.

"Dude!"

It was Chad.

"You gotta get up there!"

"One second, Chad." I told my friend through gritted teeth, staring at Sharpay, patiently awaiting her answer. Her lips formed into a smile.

"Troy-"

I started to grin back, but it quickly vanished and any further words of hers were cut short as Chad tugged on my arm.

"No time to wait, go!" My impatient friend practically demanded, pulling me away from my beautiful date and hopefully girlfriend. I glanced up at the stage where the potential kings and queens were just gathering- Ryan, Melique, Allysin, and these other two girls Miranda and Katelyn, before looking quickly back at Sharpay, who was too busy glaring at Chad with her arms crossed to notice. I watched her for as long as I could as I was being shoved by everyone towards the stage, hoping to catch her attention, and when I finally did, it was already too late to run back to her as I was already on stage and had practically everyones' eyes on me, and how would just bailing out randomly look?

"I'm sorry. Tell me later." I mouthed to her from almost halfway across the gym, as she hadn't moved an inch. She just shook her head and shrugged before running her hands up and down her bare arms, obviously upset that we'd been interrupted in the middle of another moment again. And the thing that really sucked was that this time, I couldn't do anything about it.

"Hi, Troy." Allysin greeted me in a sickening flirtatious voice much like she had earlier. I just nodded distractedly, not even looking in her direction. But apparently she'd decided to get over the fact that I'd snapped at her to "shut the fuck up" earlier.

"Alright, do we have everyone up here?" Mrs. Phelps asked, turning around to face us- the eligible royalty bachelors of the evening. The six of us nodded back in response- everyones' nod but mine being an excited one (especially Allysin's.)

"Good," the vice principal said before turning back around and speaking into her microphone. The gym was silent as all the students looked at her, giving her their undevided attention.

"Everyone having fun tonight!?" she asked enthusiastically the full gym of juniors and seniors, who cheered back happily in response. All but one of them. Sharpay, who stayed standing perfectly still. My gaze had been fixated on her this whole time, and her stance nor her blank facial expression hadn't changed a bit.

"Great!" Mrs. Phelps continued. "Well now, as I'm sure you all may have guessed, it's time to announce the winners of this years Prom King, and Prom Queen!"

The gymnasium erupted into a round of excited whoops and claps at that.

"You guys have been voting and voting these last couple of weeks, and now they're all tallied up and the results are in!"

_"This isn't flippin' American Idol, Mrs. Phelps, please just tell us so we can move on with our lives." _Is what I felt like saying, but kept that thought to myself instead.

"Alright East High, your 2009 Prom Queen..." Phelps said, slowly opening up the envelope in her hand probably to build up the anticipation. I balled my hands into tight fists at my sides and looked at the floor, knowing I wasn't going to be able to bear looking at Sharpay's face if the winner announced was a negative for her.

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"....................................Allysin Davis!"

A large majority of the gym burst into cheerful applause in a congratulatory manner of their new queen, and the rest obviously were either hoping Miranda or Katelyn would've or flat out just didn't care, because they were silent. I swallowed and dared myself to glance back over at Sharpay, who was now chewing her lip and staring straight at me. I just blinked at her.

_Shit_, is what I could get from her facial expression.

I then looked over at Miranda and Katelyn- the now-princesses, who were smiling small smiles and clapping in a good sportsmanship manner for Allysin.

And finally, I looked at Allysin- who was grinning idiotically and waving out to her kingdom of peasants (AKA her student peers) as she accepted her winnings from Mrs. Phelps who'd received them from a nerdy kid that ran quickly on and off stage to grant them to her.

After stealing the microphone to thank the crowd multiple times, the queen turned back around and shot me a sneaky wink before peeling off to the side of the stage to let Mrs. Phelps announce the king. I didn't react.

"Congratulations Allysin," the vice principal spoke into the microphone. "You deserved it!"

"Yeah right," Melique said, leaning over to me. "I'm thinkin' she either rigged it, threatened, forced, or bribed the whole school into voting for her."

While there was a pretty good chance that was probably true, I know Melique probably only said it because he wanted Miranda to win since she was his girlfriend. So I just laughed back in response.

"And now, for the king," Mrs. Phelps said. I swallowed, nervously anticipating what was to come in just a few seconds. I know that if I didn't win- that wouldn't be bad, what did I have to lose anyway?

"And this was a _very, very_ close one. The closest running for any title East High School has ever had, as only _twelve votes _separated two of the nominees."

But if I did win, well, let's just say Sharpay probably would only be happy for me had Katelyn or Miranda won, and _not _Allysin. But since Allysin _did_ win, well......yikes.

"East Highs 2009 Prom King, is..."

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"..............................................................................Ryan Evans!"

Again, a large portion of the kids in the room burst into happy applause, but this time for their brand new king. I looked at Ryan and smiled, nodding at him as he shook mine and Melique's hands- trying to be nice to us losers. I then looked at Sharpay, who was smiling, obviously pleased with the results, and clapping for her brother. Next, my eyes scanned the crowd for Gabriella, as I was wondering how she would react to her boyfriend, based on tradition, having to share a slow dance with Allysin as they took their formal titles as Prom King and Prom Queen.

The brunette was smiling also and clapping, nothing but happy for him, and she was standing next to Taylor, who was doing the same thing standing next to Chad.

After Ryan accepted his title and winnings and thanked the school over the microphone, Mrs. Phelps came back to the mic.

"Who wants to see them dance?"

The applause after that in answer to her question started off slow and hesitant at first, as everyone knew Ryan was already well involved in a steady relationship and that no matter what, him slow dancing with Allysin would be at least a little awkward for everyone and there was no way to avoid that.

But the cheering became more hyped up after a little while when people noticed that Gabriella was still smiling, probably feeling a little weird about it, but trying not to let it get to her and ruin the tradition. Plus, everyone knew Allysin wasn't romantically interested in Ryan anyway, (no, that just _had_ to be me) so all was good.

"Alright! Allysin, Ryan, if you will?" Phelps nodded her head at the royal ones. Allysin appeared reluctant at first but then Ryan smiled politely and took her hand, she smiled back half heartedly and followed him onto the floor as the song White Horse by Taylor Swift began pouring through the speakers and throughout the gymnasium.

**-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-**

I went and stood closely next to Gabriella as we watched my brother dancing with that nasty thing over there. While I was quite happy for my twin for winning, words couldn't express how bad I felt for him at this moment in time. They weren't even dancing close or anything- she had her scrubby little hands placed lightly on his shoulders as his rested casually on her waist, but still, it had to be horrible.

"They look so awkward." Gabriella commented from next to me, I nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon." I said, turning away from the weird pairing clad in their crowns and facing my friend. She giggled and nodded.

"Good," she said. "I can't wait for him to tell me all about the experience later."

"You mean how bad it was?"

"Pretty much!" The latina laughed, and I laughed too, and that's pretty much what we spent the next thirty seconds doing, before I felt a hand placing itself lightly on my elbow.

"Ladies." Troy nodded by way of greeting us.

"Hi." I smiled at the sight of him, unwilling to admit that I was beyond happy that he hadn't won for a very good reason, if you ask me.

"Hey Troy, I see you two made up." Gabriella grinned. "Sorry you didn't win."

"It's all good." Troy said. "Ryan deserves it, I do wonder though, if those twelve votes Mrs. Phelps was talking about were in relation between Melique and Ryan, or me and Ryan."

"You just said Ryan three times in that sentence." Gabriella chuckled. I giggled. Only she would notice that.

"And you just said Ryan one time in yours." Troy responded.

"Wow, I bet Ryan's ear is ringing right now." I said, and both of them gave me WTF looks.

"Don't look at me like that," I snapped playfully. "It's been told that when you're ear rings, someone is either talking good or bad about you, so that's why I said that, because we were talking about Ryan."

"Well, we weren't really talking good or bad about Ryan though, just talking about Ryan in general." Gabriella said.

"But Ryan's ear still could've been ringing." Troy said, glancing at my brother. "Look, Ryan just scratched his ear."

"Okay, can we please stop saying Ryan now?" I asked them with a laugh, and they did too.

"Sure," Gabriella said.

"Yeah, okay. So Gabriella, do you mind if I steal Sharpay away for a minute?" Troy asked her, changing the subject. She looked quickly at me before back at him and a large grin spread out over her face.

"Not at all, go ahead." She said quickly, practically shooing us off.

"Geeze, now I see how fast you're willing to get rid of my Gabi, thanks." I said, pretending to sound hurt. She just wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"You'll thank me for it later, Shar." She said, walking over towards Ryan who was finally finishing up his dance with (stupid) Allysin Davis over there.

Yep, she's sill stupid. Even though Troy _didn't _win.

"So," Troy said after a few moments of silence. "I believe you have a question to answer?"

"I do," I nodded. "And Troy...I've spent a month- no, over a month, freaking out and spending countless sleepless nights tossing and turning in anticipation of this very night."

"I know, I went through that too." He said. I nodded and kept going.

"Even before I had a date, I was so stressed out about it. And then when you asked me to be your date, I expected things to be less stressful from there, but everything just became even more stressful for me. Maybe it was just the nerves of tonight getting closer and closer, or maybe it was the nerves of spending more and more time with you. Either way...I was totally out of it..and I..I show up tonight, expecting it to be great and amazing and all these wonderful things I've looked forward to since I was a kid, only to discover my worst enemy looking like my clone, and getting into a breif fight with you in the hall, and I'd wondered at that moment if all that anxiety and time I wasted having panick attacks and bitch fits was really even worth it.

But then you asked me- you know...the question I've still yet to answer, and I decided that yes, it was worth it. Because since I've spent so much time trying to make sure every little last detail about tonight was perfect, minus those few bumps in the road I was talking about earlier, well..now I can finish it off perfect."

Troy smiled.

"So, Troy Bolton," I sighed, mirroring his happy expression. "In answer to your question?" I nodded. "Yes. I _will_ be your girlfriend."

"That's all I needed to hear," he laughed, leaning into me and capturing me in a powerful kiss, and then somehow, before either of us knew it,we ended up outside behind the school making out so harshly my lips hurt and the only sounds I could hear where those of his mouth smacking against mine and our heavy-ish breathing.

"Troy," I managed in between kisses.

"Hm?" he muttered back distractedly, his hands tangled in my golden mane as he leaned back against the brick building- me leaning against his warm body. I knew my fancy complicated hairdo was probably history by this point- we _had _to of been at this for at least fifteen or twenty minutes now, but I could really care less.

"Is this just going to be some summer fling that we started a little early, or are you serious about this..." I whisper-asked worriedly, slowly opening my eyes. "About... us?"

"Of course I am, Shar." He responded, his hands on either side of my face as he pulled his lips slightly away from mine- only allowing enough space between our faces for him to talk. "I've liked you so long it'd be embarassing to tell you exactly since when, I'm not giving up on this in two and a half months. I can assure you of that."

I bit my swollen bottom lip, still not thoroughly convinced. I've had a summer fling before- way back in the summer between my 8th grade and freshman years, and believe me when I say, they suck. All they do is end in emotional heartbreak and tears and begging for your loved one to stay.............................. at least for the guy I ended up dumping anyway.

But still, I don't want it to be like that for me and Troy.

"No one knows when they're gonna lose interest in someone," I pointed out, my hands on the arms of his that held my face up, forcing me to look him directly in the eye.

"Well, I know it's certainly not going to abruptly end for me anytime soon."

"Do you really mean that, or are you just trying to tell me what I wanna hear?"

"Of course I mean it," he said, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, sending shivers up my spine. "Why else would I put up with your sarcastic, impatient, stubborn ways for this long?"

"It's only _been_ a month, Bolton." I huffed, clearly offended.

"But I've been hanging out with you for years," he smiled.

"Fine, so you really like me, huh?" I asked, appearing unconvinced.

He grinned that adorable grin I love so much. "I really do."

I pursed my lips, biting back my own pleased grin. "Me too, Bolton."

I kissed him again, signalling that our conversation was over and we could continue on with our previous activity. And you know what- it really does basically suck we're probably going to get separated for college, but as long as what he said was true, then I'm sure we will find some way to make this work for the better.

I _am_ the fabulous Sharpay Evans, after all, and he _is_ the charmer Troy Bolton, and believe me when I say that together, we're capable of anything.

* * *

_A/N: Holy freakin' SNAP. That was the longest thing meant for a oneshot I've ever written. Seriously, this started off being meant as another oneshot, but then it got way way way WAY too long for just that, haah xD. Can you imagine over 16k words all packed into one page? I couldn't imagine having to read that all at once haha. So I tried to break it down in two. ;P_

_Thanks to everyone who read this and the first part- One Hour, and I certainly hope you read that before reading this, otherwise some parts may've lost you?_

_Please review and tell me what you think. And oh! I have to ask this, has anyone seen The Proposal yet? I saw it earlier. It was GREAT! I'm so buying that one when it comes out on dvd. :)_

_Thanks again!_

_And once again: Happy late birthday, Abbii! Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner, it took me like 3 weeks is I guess to write? A little over? Bleh._

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


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